Sleep Alone
by Animegirl1129
Summary: Nathan/Jackson Frienship. “I never thought it would be weird trying to sleep in a bed again.” Nathan mused absently, sitting cross-legged at the foot of Jackson’s bed.


Sleep Alone

**_More friendship than slash, but slash in my mind nonetheless. This was mostly done like forever ago, but I needed a break from JaSpin ficcage and this called to me from my 'Incomplete' folder. Boys aren't mine. Random. Enjoy!_**

* * *

Nathan and Jackson were the only ones left in the hospital out of those rescued from the plane crash. Everyone else had been sent home already, but, as of yet, Nathan's family could not be located and nobody seemed particularly interested in Jackson's whereabouts.

They were both fine, medically, a little malnourished, but not terribly so. Even the pilot was faring quite well.

"Hey." Nathan leaned against the door frame to the room Jackson was in, the numbers declaring it to be 407.

"Hey, yourself." He smiled, gesturing for the other boy to come in. "You heard anything yet?"

He shook his head. "Nope, not yet."

Worry was evident in Nathan's eyes, even Jackson could spot it. Even still, he didn't know what to say to reassure his friend. So he stayed quiet.

"I never thought it would be weird trying to sleep in a bed again." Nathan mused absently, sitting cross-legged at the foot of Jackson's bed, mirroring the other's pose.

Jackson smirked. "And who would have ever thought a single bed would feel empty?" After sharing a tent with 3 other boys for as long as they had, it felt oddly vacant.

They shared a laugh at the memories and ended up talking animatedly about their adventures on the island well into the early morning hours before a nurse finally came in to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be.

"Mr. McHugh, I'm going to have to ask you to go back to your room." The student nurse, a young woman named Nadine said sternly, not for the first time since the boys' admissions.

Both boys frowned, knowing neither of them would sleep well in their equally uninhabited rooms. But, with no other choice, Nathan sulked his way back to his room down the hall.

For a while anyway.

Once he was sure that the nurse had moved on to another floor, he crept back toward Jackson's room, only to find the other boy trying to creep toward his room.

With a nod in Nathan's direction from Jackson, he switched directions and returned to his own room, the other teen right behind him. "Great minds think alike, huh?" Nathan teased.

"You could call it that." The elder snorted, a smile on his own face. "By now I think its closer to 'habit' than any actual thinking process."

"Yeah, though Eric's smelly shoes are thankfully absent." They both climbed into Nathan's hospital bed, lying on their sides facing one another. "I hope they burned those."

"Probably a health hazard in here." His eyes were already drifting closed. It never took long to fall asleep like this.

Nathan's shifting made it kind of difficult, though. "Can I ask you something?"

He yawned. "You just did. Goodnight."

Jackson received an eye roll and a playful smack to his arm in response. "Seriously."

"What?"

"Once someone finally gets a hold of my parents, do you think, maybe, if they agree, you'd wanna come stay with me?" He asked, unsure of what the other's reply would be.

He cracked one eye open. "You mean, me being from a totally different world won't be a problem?" He regretted it as soon as he said it, given the look that crossed Nathan's face.

"You're not still mad at me over that, are you?"

Jackson shrugged. "No, wasn't really when you said it either. It wasn't like I'd really given anyone a reason not to think I wasn't some crazed axe-murderer or something." He smiled, shifting until an arm rested casually over Nathan's hip.

Nathan didn't seem to mind that at all. "I don't think I would have gone that far. But, seriously, are you interested?"

"Yeah, of course." He cringed, because this seemed to be the best time to bring up a topic he'd been avoiding. "It's been a week already, and no one's heard from your family."

"Yeah, they're probably in Micronesia searching from that end… or something." In truth he was worried about that, too. But, it was something he was hell bent to avoid talking about.

"They won't let us stay here forever, Nathan. If ACS ever figures out what they're doing with me, they'll probably wanna take you, too." Jackson hated to stomp on Nathan's hope, but the reality would be much more of a shock if he weren't prepared for it.

The other closed his eyes, shifting closer to the older boy. "I… know. I'm trying not to think like that, though. I mean, where could they be? The rescue's been all over the news, why wouldn't they come get me?"

Jackson didn't have anything to say to help the situation, so instead he held on tighter to his friend, it was really all he could do.

As it turned out, though, Nathan's parent's showed up the next day. They had indeed been in Micronesia, and due to a mix up in communication, they'd thought that the rescuees would be brought there.

So, now, Nathan was going home. And Jackson would be alone.

"Mom, Dad!" The teenager rushed toward the figures who'd appeared in the doorway, hugging them both, before turning to his younger sister, Carrie. Once everyone had stopped with the reunion, Nathan turned back to Jackson. "This is Jackson. He was one of the ones on the island, too."

The all smiled and introduced themselves. Ryan and Lisa McHugh, and they seemed pleased to meet him.

"Did your parents get mixed up, too?" Carrie inquired.

Jackson sighed. "Something like that." At the jab to the ribs he received from Nathan, he edited his statement. "I was in foster care when we left for the trip. They weren't exactly heartbroken and now I'm waiting for the social worker to come ship me off."

"Aw, you poor thing." Lisa frowned. "We simply cannot have that."

"Honey?" Ryan inquired. "What are you thinking?" He asked, not angry, just curious and understanding her tone to mean 'big project ahead'. He pulled her aside to continue this discussion out of ear shot of the children.

She turned to him with pleading eyes. "We can't just leave him here. Alone. When Nathan called me on the phone before we got here, he said Jackson was his best friend."

Jackson and Nathan could hear the conversation going on despite the distance. Being compared to an abandoned puppy was not exactly Jackson's dream come true, but it meant things were looking good for the two of them staying together.

"You have that look. The one that says there's not even a point in me arguing at all." Ryan noted, and his wife grinned back at him, looking deceptively innocent.

"What look?"

The man sighed. "The one that's telling me I need to call ACS right this second?"

Lisa's grin nearly split her face in two, and she turned back to the two boys, nodding enough to ensure her son that their plan had indeed worked as foreseen. "Oh, thank you, honey!"

"Yeah! Thanks, Dad!" Nathan echoed, his hand on Jackson's shoulder.

"No promises yet, boys. ACS will have the final decision, not us." He reminded them solemnly, not wanting them to get their hopes up if ACS disallowed it. "I'll call them right now." And he excused himself to do so.

The rest of them gathered in the waiting room while he made the call, Nathan and Jackson bouncing impatiently in their seats while they wait for the news. The told Lisa and Carrie of their time on the island, leaving out any details concerning storms or injuries or crazy pilots.

Jackson was just getting to telling them of the few days Nathan spent wearing a skirt because he went and walked around in wet shorts when Mr. McHugh returned from his phone call, and his facial expression was telling them of good news.

"Well?" Lisa asked.

"They've agreed to grant us temporary custody so he can get out of the hospital and they'll turn him over to us officially once we get through all the paperwork and such." He informed his family, who all seemed quite enthusiastic at the prospect.

Nathan slung an arm easily around Jackson's shoulders. "Yes!" He declared, most exuberantly.

Lisa was similarly ecstatic. "Fantastic. I'll go get you discharged from this place. I'm sure you're both sick of this place." She said, quickly making her way to the information desk to do so.

"I hope you boys are okay with sharing a room, though." Ryan warned them.

"Won't be a problem at all." Jackson answered, smiling.

"Nope, not at all." Nathan echoed, an identical grin on his own face.


End file.
